My first marketing and publicity meeting!
Happy New Year! And what a year it will be.
On the 12th December, I headed down to Penguin’s head office in Embassy Gardens, London, to meet the team that was organising THE REAPER’s campaign for 2025. Going to the PRH building truly makes you feel like an author: it’s in the middle of this ornate, newbuild square, with luxury flats scattered around a manicured lawn, and nearby is the austere complex of the US Embassy. The PRH building is big and shiny and there’s a stunning book display in the foyer. Passersby always look at it – I can imagine it must feel nice to work there as well.
Before heading up to the Del Rey-Cornerstone floor, the lovely editorial assistant Feranmi offered to buy Molly and I some drinks. I ordered a chai latte. I have to say here: Penguin Random House has money money. Feranmi said she was getting us takeaway cups – tell me why I was handed a fully insulated, custom PRH-orange, reusable travel mug? I was speechless. On display was a tray of festive doughnuts that looked divine – they were huge, topped with bright glossy icing, and filled with marshmallows and candy canes.
I should have got one, and I was so close to asking, but I soon felt the bite of nerves in my stomach, and all my excitement for the morning dissolved into something else. The return of a constant, ever-watchful friend made itself known. Self-doubt.
I pushed it aside for a little while, and then I went into the office and felt another wave come over me again. There were proofs of my book on the table, all propped up so nicely, and a printed-out spreadsheet of 2025’s campaign schedule, and a tray of pastries in the centre of it all. Then I swallowed, because I realised I was going to cry. I was so happy.
I won’t get into the specifics of the plan right here, as some things really should be a surprise for readers, too! But I was so impressed – there is a plan for every month: January to July, we’ve got things rolling. The team will be pitching me to national papers for interviews and potential articles to write, review slots in major magazines, they’ve had positive feedback from a prestigious book festival, and a lovely quote from a star author! They even pulled some quotes from recent 5 star reviews I’ve received on NetGalley which they said would give ideas as to which key words readers associate with the series. So far, the consensus among early readers seems to be that REAPER is a “supernatural thriller”, which works for me!
A week before this meeting, Aoifke, my publicist, formally introduced herself. She had sent me a form to complete with various questions about my background, the inspiration behind THE REAPER and how it was conceived, my writing journey, any unique things about my life, and my preferences for interviews (phone/in-person/any newspapers I wouldn’t like to be associated with, etc). I asked her what the difference between a publicist and a marketer is, and she told me marketing deals with the numbers and the book, and the publicist deals with the author and the brand. It’s about creating genuine hype and readers, capitalising off word-of-mouth buzz. At the main meeting with the whole team, I could really see how the two departments marry up and work together.
After the meeting, I asked Molly how she felt it went and whether there was anything she had concerns about as an agent, and was relieved to know that she felt the same as me: the campaign looks great, and everyone’s enthusiasm is encouraging. Her job, she said, is to chase up on the progress and do regular check ins, ensure that what’s been written down gets fulfilled. Although I was nervous and a bit scatterbrained during the meeting, I went home in high spirits. My self-doubt was fully gone by that point. I just wanted to go somewhere and celebrate, treat myself ahead of what should be an exciting year. I immediately called my husband and told him some of the plans 2025 had in store, and I received lots of appreciative “oohs” and “aahs”. I’m sure there’ll be plenty more as the months progress.
As this is the blog of a soon-to-be Black debut author, I thought it was good to highlight this meeting as I have prior spoken about the dire situation for Black authors who enter the publishing industry. Even with massive six-figure deals and a lot of early hype, they are left to the wolves, and unfortunately I’ve seen some quite traumatic experiences play out in real time across social media – countless Black authors, at once excited to join their heroes in the book world, sadly announce their departure from trad publishing shortly after the launch of their books due to neglect, poor management, exhaustion, and mental health crises all triggered by their publishers (and sadly even their agents dropped them in the process). I can’t say this has been the case for Del Rey UK. Of course, in the beginning, I had reservations and was understandably suspicious as I had nothing to measure my own experience by, but now that I’m mingling with more debut authors I can see how THE REAPER’s campaign fits cleanly alongside several other lead titles by white and non-Black authors from other Big 5 imprints. I haven’t noticed any discrepancies in my treatment compared to other writers that I know., which is a huge relief.
I was also touched by their attentiveness and genuine interest in me. They made it known that they enjoy my social media posts and that they read my blog. As we were leaving the office, another staff member from Cornerstone stopped me to say she loves THE REAPER and “heard [I] like manga”, which prompted her to give me a stack of Yamada-Kun volumes and some BL! I know it’s part of their job to be enthusiastic, but their commitment to go the extra mile is noted and appreciated.
So here’s my vouch for Del Rey – if you’re a SFF author on sub (submitting your book to editors at publishing houses via a literary agent), then this is an imprint you might want to consider if it comes down to making a choice between multiple offers (THE REAPER went to auction as another imprint made an offer at the same time as Del Rey).
I’m still new to this industry so I don’t want to universalise my experience, but I think the distribution of ARCs is a huge indicator of publishing support. Even Molly said she was shocked (in a good way) by the consistent ARC campaign for THE REAPER. Del Rey’s just been printing these things and handing them out to every influencer, blogger, and reviewer they know. It’s almost evangelical. But ARCs are so important for that early hype! If you’ve ever wondered how certain books become “instant bestsellers” even if the author is unknown, or how some readers post on social media about how excited they are for such and such a book long before its release date, it’s because of ARCs – early readers talk about them, review them, tell other people about them, and then people preorder those books and add them to their Goodreads or anticipated books lists for the upcoming year. ARCs cost money, so the fact Del Rey is printing them so regularly says a lot about their investment in the book. They even said that if I want to host my own Goodreads giveaway, then they’ll happily do the sending on my behalf to avoid me spending my own money.
After a very rocky year and a half in my personal life, I’m excited about the future. I won’t say something as self-indulgent as “I deserve this”, but I do think I was due a little relief, a break from the deaths and near-deaths, the homelessness and soul-crushing experiences with various London councils, the negligent landlords, the debt collection agencies, the depression and the poverty. I’m determined to make 2025 a good year, and thankfully, I have a whole team of wonderful people to help me do it.